Zechariah 5:1-2 – ‘scroll’ or ’sickle?’
There is a discrepancy between the words found in the Hebrew Masoretic and Greek Septuagint texts of Zechariah chapter 5.
The Hebrew text tells us that Zechariah saw a flying scroll, but the Greek text calls it a δρέπανον πετόμενον, or, flying sickle.
Which is correct?
Although the Hebrew text could be right, we’ll trust the Greek text on this one. Why? Because the thing that he saw was thereafter used to punish the wicked. Notice that verse three says concerning it:
‘This is the curse…
The one that will go ‘cross the face of the earth.
One side brings death to all thieves,
And the other, to all that would lie in a trial.’
So, although a scroll could record their sentence, a sickle could actually bring the punishment (death).